2 Sisko's
by the stargate time traveller
Summary: Numb with pain over the loss of his wife Jennifer at the Battle of Wolf 359, Ben Sisko is overcome with the realisation without his wife he and son may not cope.


I don't own Star Trek.

Please let me know what you think.

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2 Sisko's.

The shuttle was drifting away slowly, joined by others of its kind as they tried to evade the Borg Cube. Benjamin Sisko knew that the remaining Starfleet ships were aware of the shuttles that had escaped not just from the Saratoga, but from other ships as well. They were busily firing heavily on the Cube as a result while they hoped to divert the Borg's interest in the shuttles over to themselves. It seemed to be working; clearly the Borg who were a cybernetic species saw more logic in going after threats rather than expending their resources on small hopeless targets.

A part of Sisko would forever be grateful to his fellow officers for their efforts though he was not sure if they were delaying the inevitable or not. But he just….felt so detached from it all.

Another flash from an explosion blazed out across space, but Sisko didn't lift his head. He couldn't muster the mental strength to look on as more of his fellow Starfleet officers were killed by the relentless cyborg monsters were busily cutting a path of murder through Federation space with the help of Jean-Luc Picard, one of the most respected and experienced captains in the fleet.

_How could Picard do this? How could he have become like this? Alright, so if what I heard from all those last-minute briefings before the battle - massacre, more like - is right, then Picard has simply been taken over or something… Still, that does not excuse what he's just done!_

Sisko was brought out of his thoughts when he heard the sounds of sobbing reach him, and he realised that all around him were scared and crying people. He lifted his head and for the first time to take in the sight of the people with him in the shuttle. It was a mix of civilians ranging from children to adults and some of his fellow Starfleet officers. Many of them were bleeding from head injuries, others had far more serious injuries such as broken arms and legs, something along those lines at least. The children were crying, sobbing as they held onto their loved ones while they were being reassured by equally frightened people.

As he stared at the frightened and shellshocked survivors of the Saratoga, Sisko felt an irrational burning rage boiling inside of him.

_This….this was wrong! None of these people should have been anywhere near the battle…_

Ben closed his eyes and held his son gently to his chest, breathing in his son's scent gently through his nose so then he could soothe and reassure himself he still had Jake, and yet he couldn't help but curse the idiots who had organised this 'noble last stand' to stop the Borg. Not only had they completely underestimated just how powerful the Borg were, they had not considered what Picard _knew _about Starfleet operations.

Picard, like all famous and important captains like Captain Jellico, Captain DeSoto, and others, had tremendous knowledge of operations and with that knowledge, it wouldn't take much for the Borg to overrun Starfleet.

The thought made Sisko shudder, but as he turned to look blankly out of the viewing window he could see the Borg Cube suddenly shoot out one of its tractor beams at a number of shuttles that had just escaped from another starship which had just been destroyed - Sisko didn't know which, though he doubted it would make any difference since there were just so many ships that had been destroyed, and their debris was now littering the entire Wolf 359 system. The shuttles tried to fight off the force of the beams, but they were hopelessly outmatched and they were dragged closer and closer to the Cube. And then nothing. They disappeared completely out of view.

Sisko watched the horrific spectacle as he tried to work out what was going to happen to those people who had just been snatched by the Borg, and he realised with horror as he conjured up an image of the transformed Jean-Luc Picard what was likely going to happen to them. He swallowed the vomit that rose up inside his throat at the very thought, hating Picard for letting this happen.

The man had not only allowed himself to be transformed into a Borg, but he had given his knowledge on Starfleet and Starfleet operations to the Borg, and he had led this attack on Starfleet.

He was responsible for what had happened to his fellow Starfleet officers.

He was responsible for what had happened to _Jennifer…_

Yes, alright, so he knew on an intellectual level Picard wouldn't have wanted any of this, and yet on other levels, he couldn't help himself for hating the man for what had happened. But what horrified Sisko the most was how he was focused more on _Jennifer _rather than anybody else…

"Dad?"

Sisko was snapped out of his thoughts - he would think more about them later when he had settled down - and focused on his son. He gave Jake a soft, sad smile. "Hey, Jake-o," he greeted softly.

Jake smiled up at him before he looked around. "Where are we?" he whispered.

"Hmm?" Sisko was quizzical. And then he noticed that his son had a dazed look of confusion on his face. Clearly he had been in shock, and he was only just coming out of it. "We're on a shuttle. We just escaped from the Saratoga before it was destroyed."

Inwardly Sisko was wincing as the words flowed out of his mouth. They sounded cold, so clinical. Even Vulcans were capable of far more emotion than what he had just used to tell his son what had happened.

Jake was looking around, his confusion shifting into worry and then fear. Sisko watched him silently, knowing precisely what was coming though he had no idea how he was going to respond to the question which was likely to break his heart all over again. "Dad… where's mum?" Jake asked hesitantly.

Sisko looked down for a second before he looked back up into his son's eyes. "She….didn't make it, Jake," Ben replied and he felt his already splintered heart be ground down even further as he said the words. The look Jake was sending him made it even worse. Ben could already see the onset of tears welling up in his son's dark eyes.

Ben pulled his son close to his chest and they cried together. Ben honestly had no idea how he was meant to cope now Jennifer was gone, but he knew he would have to do his best, for Jakes' sake as well as his own.

_Suddenly he was back in their quarters on the Saratoga and he was trying to get Jennifer out of the wreckage. He struggled to lift up the girder which had fallen on her, but he wasn't strong enough. He could feel strong hands grasping him, trying to pull him away. _

_But how could he leave?_

_He was her husband, for God's Sake! _

"…_dammit! We can't just leave her here!" _

Ben closed his eyes tightly as he tried to exorcise those dreadful images out of his mind. But he found he couldn't. They were stuck there.


End file.
